Henry A. Kissinger Quotes
All governments ... sometimes do strange things.
Phone Call with Abba Ebban, October 1973
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The Speaker of each house was a very powerful position. However the term of office was a single day, with new speakers being elected for each day of the debate. With the exception of a particularly unpopular legislator, all shared in the speakership at one time or another. When whites first came to America, the Iroquois, were the most sophisticated Native Americans. They were actually a confederation of 5 different tribes each of which was composed if many clans. Although fierce warriors, they had agreed not to fight each other and to assist if any were attacked. They developed a strong agricultural base, to go with the fishing and hunting, and their confederation were very aggressive and sophisticated traders taking them far from their upstate New York “capitol.” Their governmental structure was quite sophisticated with an elaborate, formal, system of checks and balances, multi-cameral legislatures that recognized numbers of citizens, power and wealth, and even cultural traditions. They were literate, capitalistic and globalistic in that they wanted to trade with all. They had written laws, and women had a role that was unique in world history in that only women owned property in a matrilineal society. Further, it was only the Clan Mothers who voted for the 50 Sachems (~Senators)—but their selections had to be accepted by the people they represented. Ironically the descendants of the Iroquois who remained in New York became a very successful Native American group. In the 2000 census, the average Indian in New York State earned the same income as the average White with no Indian gambling money.
A major problem in politics is that many governments and factions have at times acted against their own interest. The polarization of America at the beginning of the 21st century where each party would no sooner win an election than follow their passions and ideologies and then get thrown out of office by the voters. Or a nation going to war against a hated and traditional enemy when they did not have the military power or economic resources to prevail. One of the best examples was the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Another was the American policy of isolationism prior to WWII. Both Napoleon’s and Hitler’s attempted invasions of Russia were also examples. Political parties even more commonly act for the passions of their base of supporters to their detriment. This is extremely common.
Henry Alfred Kissinger KCMG is an American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. A Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1938, he became National Security Advisor in 1969 and U.S. Secretary of State in 1973. For his actions negotiating a ceasefire in Vietnam, Kissinger received the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize under controversial circumstances, with two members of the committee resigning in protest.
